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| Will Congress replicate 2010 in 2015? | | Leh Council polls | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 7: Election campaign in Leh district of Ladakh region is in full swing. The Congress, which has been at the helm of affairs in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, since years now, has fielded candidates in all the 26 constituencies and working overtime to repeat its 2010 performance. The Congress had won 21 out of 26 elected seats in 2010. Congress MLA and former cabinet minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, former MLA T Samphel, former Union minister P Namgyal and many other senior Congress leaders have been crisscrossing the district to enlist the people's support.
The Congress is seeking the people's mandate on such planks as UT status for the region and its whole campaign is directed against the BJP. However, the problem of the Congress this time is that the newly-founded New Ladakh Movement (NLM) has fielded candidates in 16 constituencies. The formation of NLM and its decision to contest election in 16 constituencies has undoubtedly added to the Congress' problems and that's the reason it has been putting in more efforts to retain control over its erstwhile constituency.
The BJP has also fielded candidates in all the constituencies hoping that this time it could create history by winning a majority of seats and dislodging the Congress from the LAHDC. The BJP did create history by winning the lone Ladakh Lok Sabha seat in 2014, but suffered a massive defeat in the assembly elections, which were held six months later. The BJP could not win a single seat from the region. The BJP has promised UT status to induce Ladakhis, notwithstanding the fact that the PDP-BJP agenda of alliance is silent on this issue. A number of BJP activists from Jammu have been camping in the district for more than a week now. Insiders inform that a number of BJP ministers, MLAs and MLCs would also campaign in the region after the assembly session was over on October 10.
In 2010, the BJP had won four seats. The BJP did try to forge a pre-poll alliance with the PDP by offering it four seats, but the PDP rejected the offer and declared that it would go solo to the polls. The PDP has fielded eight candidates in the constituencies where the non-Buddhists are somewhat more numerous. The decision of the PDP, which has hardly any stake in the region, to go alone has upset the BJP's applecart, as it was banking on a particular vote bank, which the PDP believes is its own.
The National Conference, which, like the PDP, also has little or no support-base in the region, has also fielded eight candidates. Interestingly, the PDP and the NC had not contested the last assembly elections in the Leh district, which returns two members to the assembly. Their non-participation in the assembly elections in the Leh district should explain everything and establish that they have little or no presence in the trans-Himalayan region.
A total of 90 candidates are in the fray. The number of voters in the district is 80,811, including 67,757 in Leh tehsil and 13,054 in Nubra tehsil of the district. The election department has set up 274 polling booths in 26 constituencies. The LAHDC, Leh, consists of 30 members, 26 of which are elected and the remaining four nominated. Election would take place on October 17. Counting of votes will take place on October 23 and the fifth Leh Council will be in place in the first week of November.
For the Congress and the BJP, these elections are very crucial. The Congress wants to prove that it is still politically relevant in the state. The BJP wants to win the election to create an impression that the people are quite happy with it and the policies it is implementing. As for the PDP and the NC, they also want to establish their foothold in parts of the district. |
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